


Six I Love You's and a Goodbye

by onyxshinigami



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:06:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6659278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onyxshinigami/pseuds/onyxshinigami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of prompts tied together with a ribbon.</p><p>Prompts were found on Tumblr:  http://annaiese.tumblr.com/post/122648481014/just-imagine</p>
            </blockquote>





	Six I Love You's and a Goodbye

1\. Imagine the first time they say “I love you”.  
2\. Imagine the words resting quietly on the air, spoken in time with the rising sun and the soft whispers of morning.  
3\. Imagine them spoken at night, roughly, in the middle of an intense romantic encounter.  
4\. Imagine them bursting forth in the middle of a laugh, childish in their enthusiasm but shocking enough to silence all sound.  
5\. Imagine them choked out in relief as hands race over skin, checking for injuries and begging for reassurance.  
6\. Imagine them shouted at top volume, in the middle of an argument, never meant to come out that way.  
7\. Imagine them repeated, quietly, with desperate eyes and a defeated voice.

 

*** *** ***

 

**Six I Love You’s and a Goodbye**

 

1\. Sweat cooling on the skin, hearts slowing to a normal rhythm, breaths deep and rich with laughter. Conversation, idle and curious, turns serious.

“I’m a better man for having met you, Kadan. I just hope this made things a little easier on your end.”

“Not ‘this’. You made things easier on my end.” A heartbeat. A chance. A confession. Leaf breathes, “I love you.”

Gentle laughter responds. “You going soft on me, Kadan?”

It stings. 

Embarrassed. Afraid. Averted gaze. Was he wrong? It hurt. It hurts.

A massive hand cups the side of his face, turning his head to meet the Bull’s gaze. Soft, caring, warm. Leaf’s heart pulses; hope shaking free.

“I love you too.”

A kiss. A promise. A bond.

 

2\. Skyhold is quiet just before dawn.

Leaf stirs, something in the room has changed and it wakens him. The Iron Bull sleeps next to him, a warm, solid presence. Comfort and security. Leaf smiles. He has lost so much and given up more besides, but this. He will not give up this.

Leaf lifts his head and listens to the sounds outside filtering up from the courtyard and the garden. A breeze drifts through an open window, rustling heavy drapes and loose papers on his desk. He grunts. Leave it to him to have rustling paper wake him up before the sun.

“How did you ever sleep in the forest? The wind in the trees must have driven you insane.” The Iron Bull’s voice is rough with sleep.

“With a thick blanket over my eyes and ears,” Leaf leans down and presses a gentle kiss on Bull’s brow, sorry to have wakened him. “Just enough space for my nose and mouth poke out. I didn’t want to smother in my sleep.”  


“Hmmm. That gives me an idea…” Bull’s voice trails off as a grin widens. There is mischief in his grey-green eye. The colour reminds Leaf of the Storm Coast. Leaf laughs softly as Bull pulls him down into a kiss and runs his fingers through his hair. Leaf smiles between kisses, tracing Bull’s brow, his nose, his lips. He laughs when Bull catches him by the wrist, presses a beard-tickling kiss to his palm. He leans down and nips at the tip of Bull’s ear.

“I love you,” he whispers.

The words are still new, but spoken without fear. There is peace and there is trust.

“I love you too, Kadan,” Bull replies, pulling the little elf close for a kiss that deepens, draws them both tightly together, loving one another as the dawn breaks clear over Skyhold.

 

3\. The blindfold helps him focus on the feeling, not the thought. The ropes, boiled soft and worked smooth, allow him freedom. He can toss his head, thrash, buck his hips, strain every muscle in his body, and no one gets hurt.  


The Iron Bull says “Cold,” and Leaf shudders. The frost magic that has marked him since he was a child is strong. He refocuses, his will reigns in his magic and Bull is safe, like he is safe.

“Promise me you’ll say it if you need to,” Bull had whispered. They had talked about their desire. They agreed on what they wanted, what they needed. Leaf had promised. He could not hurt Bull like that.

Everything they had was built on trust.

He gasps and twists, turning into Bull’s touch, pressing down, up forward, searching for more.

“More,” he gasps. He begs. Pride has no meaning here. He wants, he needs, he feels.

“Greedy,” a low laugh admonishes him.

“I love you,” Leaf sighs. “Mark me, please. I’m yours,”

A gentle sweep of a large hand over his belly, a rough scraping of blunted nails burning lines on his chest, hot breath as Bull bites sharply at Leaf’s inner thigh. “Oh, that’s going to blossom up beautifully,” he sighs reverently.  


Leaf is filled with heat, hot and full and yearning. Bull grips his hips, fingers bruising tender skin, and they move together, finding a fast, hard rhythm that leaves Leaf choking back cries of pleasure, nearly screaming with desire.

The Bull is not shy.

“Yes! Fuck yeah, Kadan. Oh, I love you!”

“Fuck, Bull!”

Leaf arches, unable to breathe as Bull brings him to his release. He moans and gasps as Bull finds pleasure in him, muttering something Leaf can’t quite hear.

Leaf lies still, sated and exhausted, as Bull beings unknotting the ropes, rubbing indentations and kissing known soft places. Bull leaves the blindfold for last, as always. He presses a kiss over each eye before lifting the blindfold away. Leaf waits. Two more kisses, this time pressed to the eyelids themselves, and Leaf has permission to open them. He smiles up at his lover, wrapping happily-sore arms around a strong neck, pulling them together for another kiss.

“I love you,” he promises.

“Kadan. My kadan,” Bull smiles, rolling them both over so Leaf now lies on top of him, the elf’s weight a gentle, pleasing pressure on his chest and belly. “Thank you.”

 

4\. Friendship and laughter; precious coin in dangerous times. 

Leaf’s group was a little different. He usually traveled with Cole, Vivienne and the Iron Bull. However, circumstances were odd things. He needed Vivienne in Val Royeaux with Josephine for some very important political maneuvering. Vivienne was an amazing mage and a force of divine wrath on the battlefield, but she was very wary of Cole. She never seemed to fully relax with him around. As such, time spent around the campfires was usually spent in tutelage and cultural exchange as opposed to something more conversational. Leaf appreciates not having to talk.

This time, instead of Vivienne, Leaf had asked Sera along. She is afraid of Cole but ignores him with admirable determination. Cole wanders around the edges of the camp, listening to the stars. Ignoring being ignored.

Sitting around a campfire, she begins to fill the silence. Her stories are in turns murderous, hilarious, and murderously hilarious. Bull adds on and the one-upmanship begins. The two tell tales, share lies, empty cups of drink, and shout laughter to the sky. The full moon above the Hissing Wastes will not know peace this night.

Leaf listens, enjoying their happiness. It’s cold, but not unbearably so, and he has a shared tent with Bull to look forward to.

Sera and Bull trade barbs, share awful puns and discuss Skyhold gossip. Eventually Leaf adds a little to one of Bull’s tales, starting with “I’m under the impression from Skinner that…” and the grin on Bull’s face widens further. His weird little family is growing.

Slightly drunken, Sera has a question.

“Right. What’s with the paintings we see sometimes? The woman with the halla horns rubbing her tits on a bloody great bear?”

“Ah, Sera.” Leaf attempts to imitate Solas’ teaching voice. “Didn’t you know? The Dalish believe their women should have a nice rack.”

Sera’s gasp is audible before she howls with laughter. The Iron Bull chokes on his drink, laughter catching him unaware. He slaps a hand to his knee, smiling at Leaf across the campfire.

“Oh, that’s a good one. Ah-ha-ha! I love you!”

The admission surprises all. They have made no secret of their relationship, but they are remarkably private. It’s necessary. To have it burst forward like that, honest and raw…

The Iron Bull looks down and prods the campfire with a stick, almost shy. Leaf would like to imagine a blush darkening Bull’s cheeks; heat to match his own.

“That’s, the first time you’ve offered those words to me. Thank you.” Leaf smiled. “I love you too.”

Sera promptly makes a gagging noise. Bull pushes her over. Laughter and an indignant squawk and then chaos around the campfire. Leaf ducks away and into his tent, smiling, happy, and hoping there won’t be any bees.

Cole is waiting.

“The words are hard when he thinks. Too small for what he feels when you’re safe in his arms. Proud to stand beside you.”

“Thank you, Cole. Are you going to try sleeping? There’s room-“

“Thank you, but I’d rather watch the stars dance.”

“I understand. Goodnight.”

“They aren’t going to sleep. Not yet. You won’t either.”

“That’s alright. Let them have their fun. I trust you’ll keep an eye on us, as well as the stars?”

“Yes. Thank you. Good-night.”

Hours later, Leaf awakens from a light slumber when the tent flap opens. Bull, smelling of ash and alcohol, lies down quietly on his bedroll. An arm reaches out to press against Leaf’s back. Just a touch. I’m here. You’re here.

Leaf rolls over, presses tightly to Bull’s side, draping a leg over Bull’s thigh and leaning up to drop a kiss on Bull’s salty cheek.

“I love you,” he whispers again.

“Yes. Love you. Thank you,” Leaf sleepily replies.

 

5\. Heart frozen. Throat choking. Eyes wide with terror and determination. Fade step in front of the unmoving body, straight into the dragon’s maw. One final push of glacial might, dagger sharp and body wide, up and in, brain pierced, and done. It falls and is forgotten as Leaf turns, hands reaching for the healing potions in his belt. 

Vivienne is already at the Bull’s side, green energy swirling over the still form. Her hands are steady despite the heaving of her chest. 

Cole stands aside, watching. A knowing dagger held in his hand.

Leaf slides to his knees next to the Bull’s head, the neck twisted dangerously. He tries to control his panic. Focus, focus, focus. Carefully, so carefully, afraid to move him. Leaf quickly-carefully pours a mouthful of regenerating potion into the corner of Bull’s mouth, rubbing the large throat to encourage the natural reflex to swallow. He feels it happen, pours more. Repeats until the bottle is drained. The potion fills the air with soft light, a delicate hum.

Vivienne’s fingers tremble slightly.

Leaf draws upon his depleted energy, wills his strength into the Bull. Just a little more, please. Please, please, please please pleasepleaseplease!

A gurgle.

Sharp twist of motion to the side. The Bull coughs, blood spraying onto the rock, into the water, pushing to his hands and knees. Head turning; eye searching.

“Bull!” The name bursts forth, filled with joy and relief. Leaf surges to his feet, hands tracing the Bull’s face, neck, shoulders, running over the skin and tracing the energy moving underneath. Healing. Healing and alive.

“Are you alright? Please tell me you’re alright.” As the Bull regains his feet, steam misting off his silver-grey skin, Leaf refuses to let go. Slender fingers tracing the muscle of arms, spanning chest, smoothing over belly. He sends a silent prayer of thanks to the gods. Not today.

Not today.

The Bull rolls his neck, delicate cracking of the bones. Rolls his shoulders and something snaps into place, the sound like a kindling bursting in a fire. Bull grunts and then sighs with relief. “G’na be sore in the morning.”

Fear seeps out of his being; a few tears mark its passing. 

“I love you.”

Laughter, relief and joy and love in one sound, Leaf reaches up, arms encircling the Bull’s mighty neck. 

“I love you.”

He reaches skyward as the Bull leans down into their kiss.

“I love you.”

 

6\. The patrons of the tavern shift warily as body language tightens. Some go upstairs, some leave. Some angle their bodies in an attempt to look like they aren’t listening though they are dying for fresh gossip.

The Iron Bull and the Inquisitor are not enjoying their conversation. 

Krem fidgets; fingers tapping his wine bottle, shifting weight from leg to leg while standing, feet tapping when sitting, then standing again. His eyes darting from the Bull to the small elf. Sharp words hiss between sharp teeth. The Bull’s fingers twitch. Miniscule clench and release.

Words rumble and hiss, faster, louder between the two. Krem is starting to worry. The chief rarely loses his temper in public. What are they on about? Words start to carry.

“…Vivienne recommends… Listen… Val Royeax… Empress… Ambassador… Look, I just… reason… listen to me… avert… meet… damage… listen…”

The Inquisitor shakes his head and rises to leave; frustration etched across his narrowed gaze and lowered head. The Bull reaches out and catches a loose sleeve. Leaf snatches away from the grasp and turns snarling to face the Bull. 

“Listen to me!” The Iron Bull surges to his feet, chair knocking against the stone wall. Leaf glares up at him and does not move. 

Krem is on his feet before he realizes he doesn’t know what to do. The tavern is cold enough to see his breath.

“I love you!” the Bull roars; tavern walls shaking with his fury.

Leaf’s eyes widen in shock. Silence lays a blanket over the crowd. People curiously frozen by sound and drama. 

The Iron Bull lowers his voice, dark and rumbling. Leaf, silent and still, listens. Krem catches pieces of the remaining words.

“Can’t let you… risk… send contacts… safe… more information… need you.”

The tavern begins to warm, but Krem shivers. Someone coughs and scuffs their feet. Someone else returns to their conversation with a strong “So I said to her she’d better make sure…” and tension eases. The tavern attempts to return to normal.

The Iron Bull rests gentle hands on the Inquisitor’s shoulders. Krem catches Maryden’s eye, and the minstrel begins to play something softly. No words. Not yet.

When the Inquisitor leaves the tavern the Iron Bull follows. Both wave to Krem as they pass, but no one speaks. 

Enough has been said.

 

7\. “Don’t.”

Leaf shook his head sadly. “We’ll fix this, in time.”

“Boss, can’t we just-” 

“Enough, please!” Leaf turned away, voice thick with feelings he was struggling to keep in check. “We can’t.” He began to walk away.

The Iron Bull crumbled.

“I love you,” he said to no one, his heart in his hands, sinking to his knees.


End file.
